


Stop the Darkness From Creeping In

by OTPGirl



Category: Black Friday - Team StarKid
Genre: HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME, I apparently have a very hard time writing fluff without angst, M/M, Other, and turned into lets deal with trauma!, this started out as Wilbur making Xander blush, whoops, ya know
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-09
Updated: 2020-06-09
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,407
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24622144
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OTPGirl/pseuds/OTPGirl
Summary: Xander has been working in the lab for over twelve hours and Wilbur has decided that he needs to get some sleep.
Relationships: Wilbur Cross/Xander Lee, Wilbur Cross/Xander Lee/John McNamara
Comments: 11
Kudos: 21





	Stop the Darkness From Creeping In

“Well, hello naughty list.” Xander can feel the familiar burn of a blush rising in his cheeks as he feels a kiss pressed against the side of his kneck. He whips around and sees Wilbur directly in front of him, a confident smirk on his lips. 

“Wilbur!” Xander hisses, softly hitting the other man in the chest. Wilbur laughs loudly as he wraps his arms around Xander’s waist and pulling him close. 

“I’m sorry dear, but you just look so cute when you blush.” The burn in Xander’s cheeks grows more intense and he buries his face in the crook of the taller man’s neck, desperate to hide. He had never been more grateful that he works odd hours, and therefore no one else was in the lab. 

“I take it that it’s been a good day.” His voice is muffled, but he has no doubts that Wilbur is able to understand what he’s saying. Wilbur shrugs slightly and Xander pulls back, looking up at him.

“It’d be better if you came to bed.” Wilbur brings a hand up and plucks Xander’s blue light filtering glasses off his face and places them on the desk behind him. His other hand cups Xander’s face, his thumb running over the other man’s cheekbone. Xander leans into it, humming softly as his eyes flutter shut. 

They stand like that for so long that they both lose track of time. The moment ends when Xander turns his head to kiss Wilbur’s palm before pulling out of his embrace, turning back to what he was working on before. 

“I would love to, but I really have to get this done.” 

“Alexander, you’ve been working all night, you need to get some sleep.”

“It’s only been a few hours.”

“It’s Four a.m.” 

“No it’s not, it’s only-” Xander glances down at his watch. It reads 4:03. Huh, it really has been about twelve hours. 

“You have been in here since after lunch yesterday, and I know you haven’t stopped to eat anything. So here’s what’s going to happen. You are going to eat this,” Wilbur pulls a granola bar out of seemingly nowhere. “and then you are going to take a shower to help you relax. And finally, you and I are going to bed, where you will stay for at least six hours. I would push for eight, but I know you better than that.” 

Xander turns back to face Wilbur and takes the granola bar with a sigh. He unwraps it and begrudgingly takes a bite. 

“Thank you.” Wilbur’s voice is as soft as the smile on his face. Xander holds a finger up as he chews.

“I will eat this because you are right, I haven’t eaten in over twelve hours. I will take a fifteen-minute break, but then I have to get back to work. I would prefer to get this done by mid-day tomorrow.” Wilbur’s smile falls and he shoves his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumping slightly.

“Please Alexander? John’s away on a mission, and the bed is just too cold and empty by myself.” Xander playfully glares at Wilbur. 

“Now that’s just cheating.”

“Did it work?” Wilbur’s voice is shyly hopeful instead of confident and vaguely cocky like Xander was expecting. Xander rubs his free hand across his face with a sigh. He’s silent for a moment weighing his options before coming to a decision. 

“I suppose it wouldn’t be the end of the world if I finished this late tomorrow afternoon. Give me five minutes to get to a place I can stop. Wilbur leans forward, pressing his lips against Xander’s in a chaste kiss. 

“Thank you.” He whispers softly and Xander shoos him away. Wilbur perches on a stool across the room, his eyes focused on Xander and his leg bouncing. 

Xander forces his attention from the other man back to his work. He knows that Wilbur is keeping track of the seconds passing, and he’s going to hold Xander to the five-minute promise. He manages to get to a place where he’s comfortable stopping. He very pointedly puts his glasses down before turning to look at Wilbur. 

“You should finish the granola bar.” He jerks his head at the aforementioned bar, which had been placed to the side and all but forgotten about. 

“Ya know, if it was anyone other you or John being this invested in me eating, well, I’d be worried you were trying to drug me. Or poison me.” He teases as he picks it up and takes a second bite.

“Oh no. You’ve discovered my dastardly plan. Whatever am I going to do?” Wilbur’s voice was one-note and clearly sarcastic. Xander chuckled and struggled not to choke on the granola. Once the bar is gone, Wilbur ushers him out of the room, flicking the light’s off as they left. 

Xander takes a brief shower. He begrudgingly acknowledges that Wilbur was correct, the hot water did help him relax. 

Xander fully expects Wilbur to be asleep when he steps into their room. Much to his surprise, Wilbur is very much awake. He is sitting in the middle of the bed, sheets messily strewn about. His knees were pulled up to his chest and his head was resting on them, turned so he was staring at the wall. The weird thing was all of the lights in the room were turned on, the one on the bedside table, the floor lamp in the corner, the overhead light, even the flashlight on Wilbur’s phone was on. 

Xander turned the overhead light off, causing Wilbur’s head to whip over to where Xander was standing, his eyes wide with fear. Before Xander can say anything, Wilbur pushes fear down and puts on a fake happy expression.

“Hey. I didn’t hear you come in. How was your shower?” If Xander didn’t know Wilbur as well as he did, he would have thought nothing was wrong. But he could hear the slightest tremble in the other man’s voice. He silently crosses the room before sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to the door. 

“He’s been bothering you tonight, hasn’t he?” There was no need to specify who he was. They both knew well enough. Wilbur looks like he’s about to deny it, but does eventually nod his head slightly. 

“Wilbur, why didn’t you come get me?” 

“You were working, and I didn’t want to be a bother.” 

“Wilbur, look at me.” His voice is firm and he waits for the other man to do so before continuing. “You are not a burden, and you never will be.” He emphasizes the ‘not’ causing Wilbur to give him a weak, unbelieving smile. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.” Xander could respect that. He slowly stands up and makes his way to the floor lamp, feeling Wilbur’s eyes follow him as he moves. He comes to stand in front of it, glancing back over to Wilbur, a question clear in Xander’s eyes. The other man’s eyes flick back and forth between Xander and the lamp a few times before nodding slightly. Xander turns the light off and he can see Wilbur tense up slightly. 

Xander crosses back over to the bed and gestures for Wilbur to scoot over a bit, and once he does Xander sits back down, his feet swinging up onto the bed. He wraps an arm around Wilbur, who leans his head against Xander’s shoulder and letting out a deep, shaky breath. Xander idly starts playing with the edges of Wilbur’s hair, neither of them saying a word. 

After sitting in silence for a while, Wilbur picks his phone up from where it was lying face down on the bed and turns the flashlight off. The two of them readjust, getting in a more comfortable position to fall asleep. 

When Wilbur has rough nights like this he can’t be held, arms that usually feel comforting feel more like restraints. Instead, he pulls Xander close to him, pressing his face against his back. Xander stays awake until he’s sure that Wilbur is asleep, not wanting to fall asleep first incase the other man needs him. Once he’s positive that Wilbur is sleeping soundly, he gives in and lets sleep pull him deep into its comforting embrace. 

The two men sleep for hours, the room being softly illuminated from the small light on the bedside table, keeping the darkness away. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed. Please come talk to me on Tumblr:  
> Ijustwantjohnmcnamaratobehappyok


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